Warner Roadshow Studios (photo courtesy of the Studios)
Warm water, balmy weather, spectacular scenery--Australia’s Gold Coast offers it all and more: 12,915 square feet more to be exact. That’s the surface area of Warner Roadshow Studios' Main Outdoor Tank, a critical component for a movie with a ship’s name in its title.
“The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” will be the third installment in the Narnia franchise. Originally slated to film in Rosarito, Mexico (of Titanic fame), the production was moved due to concerns over safety south of the border. The Queensland government won a hotly contested battle to the film shoot, edging out its neighboring New Zealand and far-flung points such as Malta, Iceland and Prague.
Queensland not only boasts the natural attributes--35 miles of coastline, sandy beaches, rainforests and mountains--but also the necessary movie infrastructure. In addition to its Main Outdoor Tank, the Studio offers an indoor tank, an above-ground tank designed for underwater filming, and eight sound stages. Though not so titanic in scale as the Rosarito tank, the facilities have hosted productions such as “Fool’s Gold” and “Nim’s Island.”
Warner Roadshow Studios (photo courtesy of the Studios)
Perhaps things really are better Down Under. Instead of the ubiquitous Dos Equis (XX) beer of Mexican fame, the cast (at least those 18 or over) and crew of Dawn Treader can enjoy Queensland’s favorite pint of XXXX or “fourex” as it’s widely known.
Comments
Happy for those down under, but any Hollywood yahoo only two hours away from Rosarito could have gotten off their duff and driven down here (I live in Rosarito) and spent a few days to find out that they could feel just as safe here as I felt the last time I visited the Sunset Strip. The studios are right down the street from where I live and to be honest, there hasn't been a single tourist or foreign resident affected or involved in any of the drug cartel violence the northern media sensationalized. Those of us (over 14,000 expats in Rosarito) read the silly media reports and laugh!
The tacos are much better here in Rosarito! Come on down Hollywood... you can drive here... don't have to swim all that way! But of course... there were a lot more commissions paid on the extra costs to go to Australia!
Oh well... next time....
live your lie...stay in mexico..
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